Hidden Identities
by Hitasha
Summary: AU. In a world where Sirius Black and Remus Lupin died one week before the Potters, Harry finds out things kept secret from him which turn his life upside down. This story contains slash and mpreg. hd, mild rwhg, rlsb implied. Rating might change later.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters you recognize.

Alternate Universe. HP/DM, mild HG/RW, RL/SB

Rated _T_ for now, might become _M_ in later chapters….

This story contains same sex relationships, so if you can't stomach it, then do not read further. And if you do read, then do not Flame! It will be a waste of your time, because I will not give them any attention whatsoever.

To other readers: Reviews are always welcome. If you do not like the plot or some parts of it, then feel free to give constructive criticisms. They will be much appreciated. Plain flames on the other hand will be completely disregarded.

This story might look a bit clichéd at a first glance, but I promise I've got some original ideas planned.

Before we move on to the actual story, here's a little bit of background information on the alternate events in the HP world:

Most of this plotline is set during Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were killed by deatheaters a week before the Halloween Incident on 1981. Peter remained the Potters' secret keeper and as per cannon, he betrayed them. Dumbledore knew about this arrangement but before the ministry could be informed, Peter, terrified after Voldemort's destruction, went into hiding as Scabbers.

Everything J. K. Rowling wrote in the first two books came to pass, except Hagrid did not meet Black and thus did not fly over to Privet Drive in Black's Motorbike. As a result, Dumbledore and McGonagall had to wait a little more for Hagrid's arrival during which McGonagall unsuccessfully tried to further dissuade Dumbledore from his choice of residence for young Harry Potter.

In the trio's third year, Professor Margaret Holmes joined the Hogwarts faculty as the _Defence Against the Dark Arts _teacher and unlike her predecessors, she managed to remain in her post for several years. Owing to the lack of dementors guarding the castle, there was no need for Harry to learn the Patronus charm. Grubbly-Plank was the new _Care of Magical_ _Creatures_ teacher- therefore, no Buckbeak and consequently no execution. Also, Ron was given a new female barn owl (from the prize money Arthur Weasley won) that he named Iris and Scabbers was left behind at the burrow. Scabbers, A. k. a Peter, opted to remain a passive observer.

In the fourth year, everything was as per cannon, except: Moody (Crouch Jr.) was not a professor- Harry did not participate in the _Tri Wizard Tournament_ – the cup was not a Portkey- Voldemort did not rise- and Cedric won the tournament and the thousand galleons, along with Cho's heart. Unfortunately, for Cho at least, he broke up with her shortly afterwards.

Nothing much happened during Harry's fifth and sixth year. He dated Cho for a while during his fifth year and a few weeks after her incessant tear-works for her ex- boyfriend, he broke-off with her. There was no D.A. either. During his sixth year he noticed he was attracted to both girls and boys, and after his initial trepidation (he was raised in the muggle world after all where same sex relationships were frowned upon and he had no wish to deviate any further from the normal) he came out to his friends who assured him that homosexuality (and bisexuality) was normal in the wizarding world, and that he would not be singled out for this new _development_. To his utmost shock, they also informed him that such apathy was because with the help of a select few potions, childbirth was possible for such couples. Ron and Hermione also took the liberty of pointing out the same-sex couples in Hogwarts itself and Harry had to berate himself for being _that_ oblivious to not notice Seamus and Blaise Zabini's obvious relationship. He went out on dates with a couple of guys, one of them being Justin Finch-Fletchley and the other from a year below him but neither relationship lasted longer than a few dates and a few almost chaste kisses.

Though he got hold of the _Marauder's Map_ in his fifth year, Harry does not yet know about the identity of the map-makers. He also has yet to know about Remus Lupin's and Sirius Black's son who was sent to live with Lupin's mother after their death.

The actual story starts from the next chapter……

A/N- I don't know how long the chapter is going to be, but I promise to update as soon as possible because I do know about the sufferings of the readers owing the lack of update for months.


	2. Leaving For The Burrow

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything you recognize.

**Chapter 1- Leaving for the Burrow**

_Harry,_

_Mom reckons it'll be alright if you stay over at the Burrow for the remainder of the holidays. There's only a little more than one month left for the school to begin, but still. I wish you could've come sooner but as you know Dumbledore wouldn't permit it. "It is unsafe". That's what he said. I reckon, you would be a much safer here at the Burrow than with the muggles. I tried talking some sense onto mom and dad, but they wouldn't budge. "Dumbledore knows what is best for Harry and we're not going against his wishes". Honestly! Mom even threatened me with chores for the rest of the day if I didn't shut up. Bloody insane I tell you._

_Still, it is our last year at Hogwarts after all and after this year, you don't have to go back to those muggles. Hope there're not giving you much trouble. As I have been "forbidden" to come visit you, I can't even say I'll turn them into flobberworms if they are. Talking about that, did I mention how cool it is to be able to perform magic outside school! All the work has been so much easier…Wish I could apparate too, but I, the loyal friend that I am, am going to wait for you to come of age so that we can take the test together. Four more bloody days! Why couldn't you have been born a little earlier?_

_Getting back to the subject, Dad will pick you up in his way from work, muggle style. He says it is because he doesn't want more hostility with the muggles, but you know Dad. He'll not pass a single chance to play with muggle things._

_See you tonight_

_Ron_

_P.S. 'Mione's coming over to stay too after a couple of days. _

_P.S.S. I think this is my lengthiest letter ever!_

After reading the letter Iris, Ron's pet owl, brought him, Harry couldn't hold back a snigger. Really, his best friend had developed a little flair for the dramatics over the years. Even then, cooped up in this place, Ron's lively letters acted as a sort of stress reliever and he was very thankful for them. Hermione had gone to Egypt for a vacation with her parents and she hadn't owled him as often as she normally did. He didn't blame her though and he was glad she'd be joining him and Ron at the Burrow.

And Harry, unlike Ron, wasn't seventeen yet which meant he still couldn't perform magic outside school. There also was the fact that Ron managed to rub it into his face every time he wrote to him. As much as he appreciated his friend, Harry felt justified to be irritated and jealous of Ron. Thankfully he only had to wait for four more days and then he'd be an adult and perform magic outside school without the fear of getting expelled. He'd also learn to apparate. He was genuinely touched that Ron had waited for him so that they could get the license together. He knew, it was mostly because of nerves on Ron's part, but he appreciated it none the less. Also, for the first time he would be spending his birthday with people he considered family.

This line of thought gave him a jolt of pleasure in his stomach. The muggles hadn't been treating him like scum since he came back after his sixth year. These days they'd been more or less acting as if he didn't exist which was fine with him. In fact, this summer was the best he'd ever had, excluding the one before his forth year when he got to see the Quidditch World Cup. But that did not mean he wanted to spend a single minute more with the Dursleys. He'd been hoping to escape for a long time now but for some weird reason, Dumbledore believed it was best for him to remain at the Dursleys' for some time. Arthur and Molly Weasley treated him like a son, and as much as they too wanted him to stay over at the Burrow, they wouldn't go against Dumbledore's wishes.

Truth be told, Harry was losing his patience with Dumbledore. There was a time, when he respected the man so much that he'd do whatever Dumbledore told him to, but the other man had let Harry down so many times that he was close to losing his trust in him. The one thing Harry absolutely disliked was the way Dumbledore treated him as if he were a fragile glass piece. Along the years there had been several small-scale attacks by the ex-deatheaters, some of which involved trying to kill him off. Harry knew he was at a greater risk than other people because of his involvement in Voldemort's destruction and he wished to know about the deatheaters' activities so that he wasn't caught unawares. He also knew that Dumbledore led a secret organization which kept track of the deatheater activities but the man was reluctant to let Harry know even the simplest stuff. Harry had not asked to know everything that was going on and all the details they had about the deatheaters. He just wanted enough information to keep himself guarded against any future attacks. But Dumbledore denied him even that. In fact, if Ron hadn't overheard his parents talking about it, he wouldn't even have known that any organization fighting the deatheaters existed.

And in top of all that he was being forced to stay at the Dursleys. What Dumbledore was trying to achieve by making him stay at an extremely unsafe place--since his parents' death no less when there were plenty of wizarding families who would take him in--where he could be attacked at any time remained a mystery to him. He supposed Dumbledore had placed some strong wards around the house but why go through all the trouble when he'd be a lot safer at the Burrow with wizarding folk all around?

None the less, he was excited to be going back to the Burrow which was more of a real home to him than Privet Drive had ever been. The thought of never returning also appealed him lots. There was little trepidation about life after Hogwarts but that did not stop him from feeling overjoyed to leave Privet Drive for ever.

A/N: The story has just started off. I promise after a couple of necessary boring chapters, the story will pick up a faster pace and become a lot more interesting…I hope. And Draco makes an appearance soon.

Please review!


	3. The Malfoy Mystery

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything you recognize.

**The change in time is shown by **x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_**Flashbacks are in Italics**_

**The Malfoy Mystery**

"Harry! Good to see you mate".

Moments after arriving at the Burrow in the ministry car, Harry was greeted by his overly enthusiastic friend with a loud thump in his back which made him tumble a bit. This, considering Ron's tall muscular frame, was no extraordinary feat.

"Sorry mate. Sometimes I forget you're so weak."

After regaining his balance, Harry turned around to face his smirking friend. Despite his embarrassing tumble, Harry was by no means weak. He still was a bit on the thin side but was no longer scrawny as he was at eleven. He'd grown up to be a tall 6' and years of Quidditch had earned him some decent muscles. While in his earlier years he was only popular for being the "Boy Who Lived", in recent years his good looks added to his reputation.

"Excuse me! I'm not weak. You're the troll." Ron was a total of three inches taller than Harry and slightly heavier and muscular as well, which was quite a sore point for the shorter boy. "And you caught me by surprise", he added.

Ron's still smirking face made it clear that he did not believe the other boy's justification. Harry would've added something more if Mrs. Weasley hadn't chosen to enter the room at that moment and begun her usual role as a mother hen.

"Harry. Welcome back. And look at you! Still so thin. You haven't been taking care of yourself, have you? We're going to have a long talk about your eating habits young man", she admonished. Before giving the poor boy a chance to reply she continued her with her tirade. "Are you hungry? I've prepared a decent meal for you. Come to the kitchen after you've washed up."

She then turned to glare at her son who was unsuccessfully trying to stifle his sniggers in his hand. "Ronald. Take Harry's trunk up to your room. And come down to the kitchen in ten minutes. It's almost dinner time."

Harry felt a surge of warmth spread through him at this familiar greeting. It never failed to surprise him how Mrs. Weasley treated him as if he were her own son. Unlike most other people she also seemed completely unfazed by his reputation as the-boy-who-lived. To her, he was only a boy in dire need of affection which she readily gave.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Mrs. Weasley kept Harry and Ron quite busy the next two days. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Harry and Ginny were the only ones staying at the Burrow as the other Weasley Children were busy with their own jobs. Bill worked in Egypt as a curse breaker and he had been promoted the previous year and Charlie was in Romania working with Dragons. Percy had been accepted at the ministry in the Foreign Relations Department and was rarely home as he had to travel a lot around the world. Fred and George, after graduating two years previous with three Newts each, had opened up a joke shop in partnership with their richer friend Lee Jordan and were now living in Diagon Alley in a small flat above the joke shop.

With so many absences this summer the Burrow seemed quite empty. The silence was not unwelcome, but it also meant more chores for the remaining ones. After Hermione arrived, she filled Harry, Ron and Ginny with the loads of information she had acquired during her vacation in Egypt (although the other three did not understand most of what she told them).

Ginny, it seemed, still had a crush on Harry. Normally an outspoken and smart young girl, she hardly spoke whenever Harry was around, a fact which did not go unnoticed by the other occupants of the Burrow. Also the colour of her cheeks would match her hair when he'd address her. Harry was well aware of her fascination with him and to avoid the discomfiture of the situation, he'd behave normally around her and try his best to involve her in conversations.

All of this was done to reduce the awkwardness between them, but unfortunately Ginny became more embarrassed with the whole thing. And to add to that, Harry received a card with a heart drawn in the cover for his birthday, among various other presents. Considering that Ginny fled the room as he opened it, it didn't take much to guess who'd sent the "anonymous" card, although no one except Hermione and Mrs. Weasley spoke to Ginny about it.

Ron, being the best friend that he was, teased a thoroughly embarrassed Harry mercilessly about his sister's crush on him. But amidst hysterical laughter he also assured his friend that he'd stay by him whatever his decision would be. Now, Ginny was quite an attractive young girl and Harry was well aware of this. He'd known about Ginny's infatuation with him for quite a long time and he'd even considered a possible relationship. But his friendship with Ron was far more important for him to take a risk. After Ron's assurance, he felt very much relieved and decided that he'd have a talk with Ginny in the near future.

But before all that, Harry wanted to get his apparition license now that he was legally of age. It was decided that Mr. Weasley would take Harry and Ron to the ministry with him the day after Harry's birthday- Hermione had gotten her license a month earlier on her birthday. Dumbledore, who'd come by for a little while for Harry's small birthday party gathering had informed the Hogwarts students that their letters for the supplies needed their next year at school would arrive the next day as well. So it was decided that after Harry and Ron got their license, they'd meet Hermione and Ginny in the leaky cauldron so that they could shop together.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry and Ron met the girls at the Leaky cauldron. The boys had left for the ministry before the school letters had arrived. So when they saw Hermione literally bouncing on her heels when she saw them, they were quite surprised to say the least.

"Ron! Harry! Guess what?" Hermione squealed running over to them.

Amused the boys looked at each other with their eyebrows raised before they turned to her and waited for the answer.

"Head Girl! I've been Made Head girl this year. Ooh, I'm so excited!"

"Yes we can see that Hermione", Harry chuckled at Ron's reply before the boys congratulated her.

As they made their way towards the shops in Diagon alley, Harry asked Hermione who was made the Head boy. At this Hermione's face fell and it was a blushing Ginny who answered.

"Draco Malfoy"

"Ah". Although not unexpected, this news was rather disappointing. None of the four liked the Slytherin and while they understood why he got to become the Head boy- he was one of the top students in their year, second only to Hermione- they didn't like the notion of him with power over other students.

"Only more chance for the snob to torture other students" Harry said, disgusted.

"And judging by the way he seems to have power over his own father nowadays, he'll be worse than ever I reckon", Ron added.

"And how do you know that?" The girls looked at Ron questioningly.

"Oh we saw him at the ministry earlier this morning", Harry was the one who replied. He then proceeded to tell the girls what they had seen………

**_Flashback-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_**

_After arriving at the ministry, Mr. Weasley led the boys towards the Apparition offices. There already was a long queue and after fixing the time of their test, Harry and Ron bid Mr. Weasley good-bye and themselves walked towards the canteen area instead of waiting around before their time was due. _

_After walking through some corridors, they spotted Draco Malfoy round the bend. He was talking to someone and appeared to be quite miffed about something. His trademark Malfoy sneer was plastered in his face in all glory and when the boys walked a little closer they, they were quite baffled to see that the person Malfoy was directing his sneer at was his own father. Adding to their astonishment, they saw that Lucius Malfoy appeared to be afraid of his own son. _

_Harry and Ron looked at each other, their eyes mirroring the same confusion. Not only was Draco Malfoy sneering at the person he was believed to be most devoted to, he also seemed to have considerable power over the older man- the same man who influenced the decisions taken by the minister of magic Cornelius Fudge. _

_Not wishing to be found by the Malfoys, the boys hurriedly walked back to the apparition offices after a last glance at the pair. They saw Draco Malfoy smirking at the pallid older man- he'd probably gotten what he wanted………_

_**End Flashback-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**_

"Wow that was unexpected". Hermione seemed to be deep in thought. "Wonder what's going on?"

"Yeah. Why would a death eater wannabe have power over a long time death eater, even if the one in question is own father? Doesn't make much sense. But maybe we're looking too deep into things. Maybe it was just a small quarrel between father and son."

Harry didn't find out how wrong he was, until it was too late………

A/N: How did you like this chapter? I myself am not quite satisfied. I'll probably edit it in the future.

Any Comments? Criticisms? Questions? Please don't forget to review…

And Thanks to: AnimeHanyou39, Hurt Youself, fifespice and fudgebaby for your reviews.


	4. The New Boy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters you recognize, but the plot's all mine……well sort of!

The gap between times is shown by x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**A/n**: I am so sorry for the lack of updates. My A-level finals start from the 18th of October and continue until 23rd of November!

And I've also got the Mock exams from the 6th to 16th September! I've been busy studying for my "8" credits, so there was really no time to think about and write a new chapter.

I've been working on this chapter for quite a few days now and there'll probably be no more updates until my Mocks finish- sorry, but my college admissions depend on my mocks result.

I promise I'll never abandon the story…even if I stop getting reviews.

And talking about reviews, thanks to all those who reviewed and to those who read but didn't bother reviewing. No worries, because I do that all the time too. Nasty habit I know…but since I now understand how good it feels if your work is appreciated, I think I'll stop that nasty habit of mine.

To **FURRY**: Your advice is much appreciated, but you'll have to wait to see what I'll do about Ginny. I might make Ginny the way you want, but I might not either. And I also want to thank you for inspiring me to write a fan fiction, even though you yourself abandoned your story before even posting it. Thank You!

_On to the story………_

**The New Boy**

Time at the Burrow flew by so quickly that before anyone knew it, the Holidays were over and it was time for the new school year. The incident with Draco Malfoy was a distant memory. Although there was not much for the youngsters to do other than household chores and the frequent visits to Diagon alley, especially to the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan's joke shop "WeasLee's Wizarding Wheezes", Harry felt this was one of the best holidays of his life, lesser to only other earlier holidays spent at the Burrow and Christmas time at Hogwarts.

"Ron. Harry. Wake up. You'll be late."

The boys woke up to Mrs. Weasley's loud voice on the morning of the 1st of September. After scrambling out of bed a total of fifteen minutes later, they washed up, wore clean robes and hurried down to the kitchen for breakfast. This particular morning on the school day was a lot less chaotic than Harry remembered, obviously owing to the lack of the twin troublemakers.

Down in the kitchen Harry grabbed the abandoned Daily Prophet before settling down in his chair. Recently a wizarding school in Ireland, "The Maple Institute of Magic" had been attacked by unknown deatheaters while the school was in session. But thankfully, except for a few teachers no one was seriously injured although the school was destroyed completely.

"Harry the paper is not going to run away. You can read it after you're done with your breakfast" Hermione admonished the messy haired boy.

"I just wanted to know if they'd found anything about the deatheaters who attacked that school" Harry defended himself but he did put the paper down.

"Well did you know some of the Maple students are joining Hogwarts? Professor McGonagall sent me a note this morning about that along with the list of my Head Girl duties. Some of them will be with us in seventh year."

"Whoa! Do you think any one of them will be sorted in Gryffindor, or Slytherin for that matter?" Ron was unusually excited.

"Why? You want someone new to flirt with?" Harry asked snorting.

"Hey! I do not flirt with everyone" the red haired boy replied, clearly disgruntled.

"Oh yes dear brother. You manage to flirt with every girl except me". This was one of the few times Ginny spoke up in Harry's presence.

"Hah! I do not flirt with Hermione either" Ron pointed out. At this Harry nearly choked on his bacon and risked a glance at said girl whose lips were set in a thin straight line. Hermione clearly did not like where this conversation was headed so she quickly interrupted.

"Come on. Finish off your breakfast, or we will miss the train." At this, Harry smirked at her and was granted with a death glare, one which went unnoticed by the red haired boy.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x–x-

After being hugged goodbye by the senior Weasley's the four got on the train just before it started to move. Ginny went to look for her friends whereas the three seventh years walked the familiar corridors towards their usual compartment. The other students usually left their compartment to themselves- not that they'd mind getting into another one but this was one of the perks of being popular seniors. But this time there already was a boy seated in there. He looked to be about their age and was quite good looking with black silky hair that framed his slightly dark face and fell in his bluish grey eyes. He turned to look at the door when it opened and widened his eyes slightly in recognition when he spotted Harry. Although Harry would have become slightly irritated at this gesture other times, he was far busier checking the other handsome boy out to notice.

"Hello. Do you mind if we sit here?" Hermione nudged Harry before she politely asked the other boy at which he nodded his assent. Ron had a knowing smirk plastered in his face.

"Looks like somebody's got a crush." He softly whispered in Harry's ear in a sing song tone, at which the bespectacled boy rolled his eyes, although there was a tint of red in his face.

"I'm Hermione, Head Girl and they are Ron and Harry. We haven't seen you here before. Are you a new student?" Hermione was in her full Head Girl mode.

"Yeah", the boy replied. "My names…"

But before he could speak any more their door was thrown open and they all turned their heads to see Draco Malfoy, surprisingly without his cronies Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well. Look who it is. Potty, Mudblood and Weasel. And there I was, wishing you'd fail to grace us with your presence this year." He smirked at the three Gryffindors who only rolled their eyes at this old jibe. They waited for him to continue with a bored expression in their face but to their surprise he turned towards the new boy and nodded at him.

"Gabriel"

"Hello Draco"

"What are you doing here with these filthy Gryffindorks? Come along. Wouldn't want you catching some disease from them now, would we?" He smirked at the trio and left before anyone could retort.

The new boy Gabriel stood up and gathered his belongings and followed the blonde but not before apologizing to Harry and his friends for Malfoy's behaviour.

"I'm sorry about that. He can be a real git sometimes." He left the three surprised Gryffindors with an apologetic smile in his face.

"Whoa. Did he just apologize to us? And he seems friendly with that slimy Slytherin!"

"Oh come on Harry. Just because he knows Malfoy doesn't mean he has to be evil like him." Hermione it seemed had recovered from her surprise quite quickly. "And he must be one of the Maple students. Probably in sixth or seventh year"

The rest of the train ride passed without any incident. Hermione had to leave soon after Gabriel's departure to do her Head girl duties and the two boys spent the rest of the train ride playing chess and eating the various goodies from the food cart.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Welcome to all the students, old and new to this new year at Hogwarts. This year in addition to the first years, some other students in higher years will be joining us too. They have come from "the Maple Institute of Magic" and as their school was attacked the previous month, they will be continuing their studies here. I request all the students to make them feel at home. Let the Sorting begin"

After Dumbledore's speech, McGonagall led the nervous new students in the Great Hall and began the sorting ceremony after the sorting hat's song. The forty five first years were the one to be sorted first and then it was the turn of the Maple Students. There were only a total of six students, Gabriel among them.

McGonagall called the first student on her roster, along with their year.

"3rd year: Anderton, Richard"

"Ravenclaw"

"5th year: Samson, Abigail"

"Hufflepuff"

"5th year: Varnes, Amy"

"Ravenclaw"

"6th year: Brown, Randolph"

"Ravenclaw"

"7th year: Barnes, Anne"

"Gryffindor"

This was the first Gryffindor among the six new students and she was heartily greeted by the whole table. Harry, Ron and Hermione politely greeted the girl before turning their attention to the last student. He was the one the trio were the most interested in.

The boy stepped up the platform just after McGonagall called his name.

"Black, Gabriel"

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So, did you like it? Chocolates to anyone who guesses correctly who this Gabriel Black is………

And which house do you think he'll be sorted in?

Comments? Criticisms? Questions? Please review! Even if it to say you've read my story!


	5. Black and Malfoy

**Disclaimer: **I kind of own the plot but nothing from the cannon Hp plot's mine!

Just been done with my awful Mock exams

Sorry for the delay.

However, thanks to all my wonderful reviewers as well as all other readers. I must say I'm quite impressed by the number of hits on this story!

And about Gabriel Black……Just wait and watch…err, read….

* * *

**Black and MALFOY**

"Black, Gabriel"

"Gryffindor"

Harry had to admit that he was more than a little surprised at this. On hearing the last name Black, a sixth year Gryffindor seated near the trio was heard telling her friends that the Blacks were an old pureblood family obsessed with the dark arts. She'd added that a couple of the Black family members were in Azkaban on charges of forming an alliance with the Dark Lord Voldemort.

After hearing this, coupled with the fact that this new boy was in friendly terms with Malfoy, Harry had not quite expected him to be sorted into Gryffindor. But nevertheless at Hermione's nudging, he clapped along with his house in a gesture of acceptance.

Despite himself, Harry also had to admit that this Gabriel Black was uncommonly handsome. Shoulder length lustrous black hair framed his aristocratic face, which surprisingly was not unlike Draco Malfoy's but while Malfoy's good looks were seemingly marred by the ever present arrogance, Black's face portrayed a surprising innocence accented by his twinkling eyes.

Gabriel walked over to the Gryffindor table with a huge grin in his face and sat down in an unoccupied seat next to Seamus and to the trio's further surprise greeted the Irish boy as a friend would.

"Hey Seamus."

"Gabriel Black! You Bastard! " Surprise and irritation was clear on Seamus' face.

The other Gryffindors were baffled at the Irish boy's reaction but Gabriel looked like he was having difficulty containing his laughter.

"Now now Finnegan. Is that any proper way to greet your best friend? Tch tch, what would your mam say?"

"Some best friend you are! Didn't even have the decency to tell me you were joining Hogwarts! And there I was worried how you'd survive in Durmstrang!" Seamus spat.

At this Gabriel let out a peal of amused laughter. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean and Neville were watching this new development with apparent interest and bewilderment. Seamus was quite red in the face by now and was giving a death glare to the still laughing boy.

"Ahem", Dean cleared his throat for attention. "Mind telling us what's going on?"

Seamus reverted his eyes from Gabriel and turned to look at the others instead.

"This piece of shit is my so called best friend who told me during the holidays that his family was sending him to Durmstrang after his school was attacked! And I, like any good friend was worried to death how he'd survive in a school run by an ex-deatheater. Had fun tormenting me, did you?" This last part was directed at Gabriel with another death glare.

"Torment you! Never!" His innocent act was ruined however by another peal of laughter.

Harry, Ron and Hermione did not miss the striking resemblance to Fred and George at this behaviour. It looked like Hogwarts had become the host to another mischief maker.

Recovering form his fit of laughter, Gabriel turned towards the others in the group and started pompously.

"Hello everyone. Let me have the pleasure of introducing myself. The one and only Gabriel Black. Pleasure to meet you all."

The others laughed at this and Dean and Neville gave their introductions. But as they'd already met, the trio didn't need to.

"Harry, Ron and Hermione right?" At their nod Gabriel continued "So we meet again."

"You've met?" Seamus stopped his glaring to ask, surprised.

"Yeah. We met on the train but didn't get his name then." Hermione replied.

Ron, Ever the curious and the one with the biggest mouth among the group asked straight away- "How do you know Malfoy anyway? You don't look like a deatheater and…ouch!" He stopped his tirade to glare at Hermione who'd stamped on his foot quite hard.

Gabriel just raised his eyes at this and the others along with Seamus looked on curiously.

"Speak of the devil." The others looked at Harry then followed his gaze. Coming towards them was Draco Malfoy with a sneer plastered on his face.

"Gabriel." He completely ignored the others- "Gryffindor? I should have expected it. Why am I even surprised?"

Gabriel simply rolled his eyes at this.

Draco continued unruffled. "However, if you need anything you know where to find me." He then walked out of the great hall, but not before giving the trio an appraising look.

"What was that? And why did he look at us like that!"

Ron's question went unanswered because Seamus quickly cut in.

"Gabe, How in Merlin's name do you know Malfoy?"

"Uh, he's my cousin. You know him". Gabriel looked surprised at Seamus' question.

"Know him? I never knew he- as in "Malfoy"- was your cousin!" The others looked on curiously.

"You seriously don't know him?" Gabriel looked quite amused by now.

"I've met almost all of your cousins or least have heard of them. When did Malfoy come into the equation?"

"You remember my cousin Ness?"

"Yeah…the cool one with the silver fang earring right? What about him?"

"That's Draco."

"Huh?" Seamus was confused as were Harry and the others.

"I mean Draco is Ness. I can't believe you didn't recognize him!" Gabriel looked like he was on the verge of another laughing fit. "And close your mouth if you don't want to resemble a goldfish."

Seamus stared at his friend gob smacked and with his jaw hanging low. He snapped his mouth shut when he heard Gabriel's comment. He opened it again as if to say something but shut it after a second. It looked like he was having difficulty forming word. Finally after some minutes of shocked silence, he managed something.

"No way!"

"Yes way" was the amused reply.

"What's going on?" Ron decided he'd waited too long to get a proper explanation from either of them. "Who's Ness and what's this about Malfoy?"

It was Seamus who answered, obviously gaining his speech back.

"Ness is Gabe's cousin. His coolest cousin I'd say! I…I've known Ness for a long time. Since we were kids in fact. He'd come to visit Gabe here every now and then!" He turned to look at Ron directly in the eyes. "The only eight year old boy in our neighbourhood with a pierced ear! That Ness is Draco-bloody-Malfoy! I can't believe I didn't recognize him!"

"You mean you've met Malfoy before?" Harry asked with interest. The other boy nodded his head in assent, though he still looked quite dazed by the new development.

"And you didn't recognize him before now?" It was Neville this time.

"What have I been telling you all?" Seamus said irritated.

"And you were fr…friends with him?" Ron asked dubiously.

"Not quite. I'd only met him a few times at Gabe's place. But he seemed nice then."

"What do you mean by "he seemed nice then"? He still is nice!" Gabriel looked quite ruffled at Seamus' words.

"Whoa! Are we talking about the same Draco Malfoy here? This one is very far from nice! A complete arsehole would be more fitting." Harry was very much puzzled and amused at the same time at the idea of Malfoy ever being nice as Gabriel portrayed him.

"Of course I am! And I think I would know my own cousin better!"

"He, Don't get your knickers in a twist man! Honestly, no one here can imagine him ever being nice. The word just doesn't fit him. Well Gabriel, you seem nice enough so let's drop this right here okay? Any talk of Malfoy only ruins the atmosphere." Ron tried (in his own way) to placate the increasingly angry teen.

Gabriel nodded, albeit a little hesitantly and said – "Call me Gabe. I'd like to say however that whatever you guys think of him, he is a good lad. He can be a little annoying but believe me there is nice person hidden underneath that entire arrogant demeanor. And wow, is the food here always this good?"

Disconcerted by the sudden change in topic, Hermione replied to the boy who'd only just noticed the food on the table. "No. The feasts are only for the first day of school."

"Well too bad. But I think I'll make up for the rest of the year today itself. What say you?" Gabriel or Gabe as he liked to be known as said with a grin on his face and started eating in frenzy. Ron seemed to agree as he imitated the actions of the other boy. Seamus rolled his eyes at the boys and Neville turned to his own meal. Harry and Hermione were still at a loss as to what to make of Gabe's words.

Among all this, no one noticed the strange expression on Dean's face and his unusual silence through out the whole affair.

* * *

**So… what do you think is wrong with Dean? Review and tell me. You might just be right!**

_As I said in the previous chapter, my A-level finals are nearing and I don't have much time to update. I started on this chapter yesterday, i.e. 22nd September and it took me a total of 21 hours to complete it. I have no idea when I'll update again but I promise I'm not going to abandon the fic. _


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